Simonyi is donating $20 million and Bill Gates $10 million to pay for three major mirrors that will be used in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, a nearly $400 million project that will be able to survey the entire sky every three nights - something never done before. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope is to be built on 9,000-foot

Cerro Pachon in northern Chile. It will take an image every 15 seconds nightly, and its camera - the world’s largest and most compelling digital device - will read out the image in 2 seconds. With the telescope operating, scientists will be able to quickly find Earth-threatening asteroids and exploding stars called supernovas and will be able to map out […]

Orginal post by